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March 07, 2006
Volume 42 Issue 08
Vitamin C blocks loss of vitamin E in smokers
By Doug Payne
CORVALLIS, ORE. | Taking supplemental vitamin C can stop the serious depletion of vitamin E in smokers according to research at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University here. The researchers, along with colleagues in Ohio, Washington and New York states, and in St. Catharines, Ont., published results of their study in Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
The study included 11 smokers and 13 nonsmokers. Participants were asked to eat a diet low in fruits and vegetables for three months so they had low levels of vitamin C. The supplementation cohort then received supplements of 1,000 mg/day vitamin C. Controls received a placebo.
Smokers who received the supplementation had a plasma vitamin E disappearance rate about the same as non-smokers. But smokers who were still deficient in vitamin C lost alpha vitamin E about 25% faster than non-smokers, and gamma vitamin E about 45% faster.
"A lot of nutrition research in the past has been done by studying one nutrient or another in isolation, sometimes with conflicting results," said the lead researcher, Dr. Maret Traber (PhD) in a statement. "What this and other studies like it are showing is that the protection we get from proper diet or supplements often comes from combinations of nutrients working together. This has implications not only for smokers but also for many other people."
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